Read for the Foodie’s Reading Challenge.
Ruth Reichl is among other things, the former editor of Gourmet magazine, as well as a former restaurant critic for the New York Times. I’ve started a bit backwards with her books, already having read Garlic and Sapphires, which chronicled some of her time at the New York Times. Tender at the Bone was written before that, aptly so, as it’s the story of her childhood and early adulthood.
This is the kind of book that makes me wonder exactly how some people manage to have such interesting lives. Reichl’s childhood experiences with food were formed in great part by her mother, who had absolutely no sense of taste, and was known to serve spoiled food to dinner guests. To have such a noted food personality come out such a childhood is either an inevitability, or an achievement of the highest degree.
There are certainly many other formative experiences, from various friends of the family in New York City that expose the young Ruth to various dishes, to trips to France, and boarding school in Montreal. After that, there’s college, and life in a commune in Berkeley, California. Really, it’s just an interesting commentary on how a palate is formed, and a little something to make me wish I could have traveled a bit more in my youth.